


Always the Skeptic

by wholocked_Pinkie_in_theImpala



Series: The AU No One Needed [1]
Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Gen, Ghost Hunters, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, get fucked Shane, its rather minor, some violence, you're a ghost hunter now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-22 23:09:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13177164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wholocked_Pinkie_in_theImpala/pseuds/wholocked_Pinkie_in_theImpala
Summary: Shane and Ryan didn't expect to run their own YouTube channel based on the paranormal. Yet here they were. Straight out of high school armed with nothing but cameras and flashlights. So what happens when a funny little show actually turns serious?





	Always the Skeptic

**Author's Note:**

> This is was inspired by a Be More Chill fic (which was inspired by BFU) so it's come full circle

The idea came the day before graduation.  Ryan and Shane had been talking and Ryan mentioned how cool it would be if they were able to encounter a ghost like so many other people seemed to. Shane dismissed the idea as ridiculous and told Ryan to stop looking up ghost stories. But the idea remained in their heads.  The night after graduation they made their life-changing decision; they visited their first haunted house.

It was exactly as Shane expected it to be, Ryan’s screams and all, so he figured it would make a good video to post online and look back on. If he remembered  correctly, he named it Two Idiots and a Haunted House. With the shitty quality of both of their phones at night, he didn’t think anybody would actually watch it. It became very popular for a while.  Many people praised them for having the guts to go in that house alone at night armed with nothing but their phones.  As well as many people saying that they were idiots for breaking into a house at night armed with nothing but their phones.

Ryan was actually the one to suggest going to another haunted location.  He bought a brand new video camera with some of his graduation money and decided the best place to test it out would be a creepy abandoned place at night. Shane agreed, because he had nothing better to do, and he knew Ryan would die if he tried to go alone. This time Shane armed himself with a large mag-lite. With the duality of both a weapon and light source, it was an obvious choice. No, the flashlight wasn’t for the demons, Ryan, it was for whatever drugged up homeless man this apartment had. A good wack from Shane’s noodle arms should give them enough time to run away.

The apartment complex was about ten times more creepy than the haunted house, Shane had to admit, but it wasn’t any more haunted.  And though there was evidence of squatters, they didn’t actually encounter anyone while on their little endeavor (which both Shane and Ryan were thankful for). The most exciting thing to happen was Shane rounding a corner and scaring the shit out of Ryan. Another video for the scrapbooks, it seemed.  But once again Shane found that the uploaded video got more response than he would have expected -- even more than the last video. He had no idea why they got so much attention. Didn’t people have better videos to watch?  Maybe  some Vine compilations. Why watch two guys going to supposedly haunted places? What was so interesting in that? He would never know, but Ryan was soon convinced that this was something they had to do often.

Shane agreed. College  was overrated, anyway.

Over the next few months, the duo had built themselves a fan base. It became evident that people watched their videos for their dynamic. The believer that jumped at every little noise and the skeptic that kept a level head. It covered all the bases so that everyone could enjoy something. People had even started suggesting haunted places to visit to see how they would react to it.  They had yet to leave the state (they were still broke high school graduates, after all) but there were still plenty of haunted locations to explore for some time.

From lesser known locations, such as the Vogue Theatre, to more popular places like the Winchester House, they visited everything. It was pretty fun.  They knew one day they would have to stop living off their parents’ money and get real jobs, but for now, it was time to take advantage of what they had.

“Maybe we could get jobs as Ghostbusters,” Shane joked. They were on their way to a new ‘haunted’ location. “I imagine they’d pay well to get rid of people’s imaginary problems.” He turned the camera from the road to Ryan’s face. Shane could _feel_ the irritation.

“We’re not gonna be Ghostbusters.”  The statement was finalizing, but Shane couldn’t help but think that Ryan entertained the idea. He believed a whole bunch of nonsense so it would only make sense that he’d think about being a Ghostbuster.

“If you say so. I still think it would be a good idea.”

Ryan glanced at Shane from the side of his eye. “We can’t be Ghostbusters if we’re already ghost hunters.”

That sly fuck. He knew how much Shane hated  being called  a ghost hunter. Shane glared at Ryan and turned the camera away from his stupid face. “That’s bullshit,” he mumbled.

“Be sure to put that on your future business card,” Ryan snickered.

“I will jump out of this car.”

After a few more minutes of bickering (and Shane actually trying to jump out of the car), the two reached their destination. It was an old dilapidated house in the middle of nowhere.  The prospect of getting murdered and left where they wouldn’t  be found  was scarier to Shane than the thought of ghosts. The closest house was about seven miles back and the town was even farther. There was no way for a quick escape unless they threw themselves off the side of the mountain.

“Well,” Shane groaned as Ryan turned off the car. His long limbs couldn’t handle car rides. “Wanna tell us the story before we head in?”

Ryan glanced at the camera on the dashboard before looking at Shane. “This is  probably  the most gruesome story that we’re going to talk about on the show.”

“Awesome.”

Ryan turned his attention to the camera. “So if any of you are sensitive to sexual abuse this is your warning.”

“Can’t wait to hear it.”

Local legend has it that a father and his two daughters, Dorothy and Delaney, moved into this house after their mother died.   The twins were very close and shared everything together -- even boyfriends. (“What the fuck?” _“I know, right?”_ ) This exchanging of men would soon lead to their demise. Boys would often take advantage of the both of them; using them for both sexual favors as well as for money.  Once their father found out, he grew into a fit of rage, calling his daughters “awful whores” and beat them for giving away his “hard earned money”. Then, as if he thought it a fit punishment, he raped the both of them -- forcing the other to watch by tying her up. (“Jesus Christ!” _“Yeah, that's fucked up.”_ ) After, he left them tied up in the basement only to return a day later to decapitate them. Their bodies remained there until the father  inexplicably  died of a heart attack.  For years after, potential tenants refuse to stay longer than a night and it still remains vacant today.  Locals say that Dorothy and Delaney never left the house and that their love of men has turned into an intense hatred.  When in the presence of men, doors have reported to slam shut, temperature has  been known  to drop, and scratches have appeared on various parts of the body.

“And you want to try to spend the night here?” Shane asked, voice full of skepticism. There was no way Ryan would be able to handle this. He seemed unnerved reading the dark history alone -- and he hasn’t even set foot in the house yet.

“Yeah,” Ryan answered with a nervous grin.

Shane rolled his eyes and shook his head. “What’s so special about this place? You’ve never wanted to spend the night at any other haunted place before.”

“It’s gonna be our one year anniversary,” Ryan exclaimed with a genuine beam. It was like the scaredness fell off of him. “I figured doing something new would be a good way to celebrate.”

“We’ve been doing this shit for a year?” Shane looked like his worst fears had  been realized. “Oh no. I don’t wanna be a ghost hunter.”

“It’s too late. Shane Madej: Ghost Hunter.” Ryan’s grin widened.

Shane shuddered.

The two stepped out of the car and looked at the house. In the darkness, it seemed pretty obvious that something bad happened here. It appeared to have fallen into a state of disrepair since no one wanted to live in it.

“Ready?” Shane asked. He had his camera and flashlight ready to go. He  just  needed to make sure Ryan was mentally prepared before he opened the door.

Ryan didn’t look ecstatic anymore. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Great.”  Shane stalked over there with his no-bullshit-attitude while Ryan scurried after him with less tenacity. They gave each other one last look -- Ryan’s with fear. Shane’s with amusement -- before Shane opened the door.

The first step through the door sent a chill down Shane’s spine. It was like someone ran their icy finger down his back. He looked to Ryan to see that he was already staring at him.

“You okay, dude?” Ryan’s face was a mixture of confusion and terror. “I’ve never seen you shiver like that before.”

“Fine.” Shane shrugged. “Must’ve been a draft.”

Ryan’s brows knitted together, showing more confusion than terror. “I didn’t feel anything.”

Shane paused for a moment. He looked at the open door with mild curiosity. “Interesting.”

Ryan shook his head as if dismissing the idea. “Whatever. Let’s continue --”

“Should we walk away from the door to see if it slams shut?” Ryan looked at Shane like he was crazy. “What? I  just  wanna see if the twins don’t like us.”

“I don’t want to see that!”

A smile graced Shane’s lips. It was one Ryan knew a little too well. “Fine,” Ryan conceded. He knew Shane wouldn’t go down without a fight. Or at least claiming that Ryan was a big scaredy cat. “We’ll walk away from the door. But for the record --” He announced this. “-- I have nothing against you, Dorothy and Delaney.”

“I might,” Shane said with that stupid condescending smile.

Before Ryan could reprimand Shane for being so careless, the door slammed with such ferocity that it shook the windows. Ryan shrieked and stumbled away from the door. Shane wanted to laugh, but another chill down his back caused the laughter to catch in his throat. He shivered and could have sworn he saw a puff of condensation leave his mouth.  Perhaps  it was his eyes playing tricks on him. Ignoring this, he brought a large smile to his face. “Ryan, it was  just  the wind,” he teased.

“That was _not_ the wind!” Ryan pointed to one of the windows. “It made the windows shake! Wind can’t slam a door that hard.” This was  probably  the most terrified Shane had ever seen him. It looked like he was ready to faint or bolt out the front door at any second.

“Alright, calm down. So what if it was one of the twins?  I think  your scream might have them questioning if you’re a man or not so you’re  probably  fine.”

Ryan glared at Shane, but there was still fear in his eyes. “Shut up.” There wasn’t the usual bite to it. “It’s your fault for provoking them.”

Shane gasped, offended. “I would never dream of hurting your imaginary friends, Ryan.”

“You do this at every place we visit!”

Rather than a snarky response, Shane shivered again. This time it felt like _actual fingers_ on his back. It unnerved him a little, but he figured it was his imagination.  He  just  heard a story of two girls that died here; his brain was tricking him into feeling like something was touching him.

“You did it again,” Ryan spoke up after a moment of silence. “That weird shiver. Are you sure you’re okay?”

Shane was going to say that he was fine, but something else occurred to him. “You haven’t been feeling a draft?”

“No? Have you been feeling one?”

Confusion crossed both their faces. Shane tried to reason that because he was closer to the door that he was more likely to feel the cool wind from outside. But that didn’t explain how Ryan didn’t feel it when they both walked in the house.

“Maybe  we should get out of this room,” Ryan suggested. He almost seemed concerned for Shane, if not a little cautious.

Shane followed Ryan into the next room which happened to be a tiny kitchen. It appeared as if someone dropped what they were doing and ran; it was still well furnished. Shane opened a drawer and saw various utensils inside. Even the cupboards  were stocked. The food was long since expired. “Well this is lovely,” Shane muttered. “Nothing better in a creepy house then old food.”

“I can’t imagine anyone would want to come in here to clean,” Ryan said. He was scanning the room with his camera so everyone at home would be able to see. “Would you? Considering the history.”

“We’re taking it a step up by sleeping in here.” He wanted to give Ryan a smirk, but something stopped him from turning away from the cupboard. Another chill, this one more intense than the other two, caused him to hunch over the counter. Rather than fingers, he felt hands slide down his back. It felt so  convincingly  like hands that Shane thought it was Ryan. But it couldn't have been. He was on the other side of the room. Shane let a shaky breath out and saw a little puff of air leave him. Then another. And another. He didn’t realize he was cold until he felt himself trembling.

“Shane?” Ryan’s voice pulled Shane out of his confusion. “Did you hear what I -- oh my God, are you okay?”

Shane heard Ryan’s feet rush over to him, but then stop short of the counter. He turned to look at Ryan only to see that his short companion had his eyes shut tight. “R-Ryan?” Shane’s teeth were chattering so hard he could  barely  get the word out.

“S-sorry, I  just  …” Ryan opened his eyes and glanced around. “I  just  got  really  dizzy  all of  a sudden.” He dismissed it for what might have been a more pressing matter to him. “What’s up with you? Are you alright? You looked like you were in pain.” He took a step toward Shane then snapped back in an instant. “Jesus! It’s fucking freezing over there!” His eyes  were blown  wide and he rubbed one of his arms like he  just  came in from a snowstorm. “How cold is it?”

“I d-don’t kn-now, Ryan. W-why d-don’t I  just  t-take out a th-thermometer?”  It didn’t come across as sarcastic as Shane would have liked, especially since little puffs would come out after every word.

Ryan set down his camera on the dining table and rooted around in his bag for something else. Much to Shane’s displeasure, he took out the thermal camera. After a moment, Ryan’s face revealed how cold it must have been in Shane’s corner. Ryan  quickly  took out his phone and snapped a picture of the thermal. He turned the phone around so Shane could see.

Almost everything around Shane was a dark blue. Shane himself was less green and more light blue. Those colors were often seen on inanimate objects with no heat. Shane was actually freezing. “Th-that doesn’t s-seem  ph-physically  p-possible.” He decided it would be best to leave his side if he wanted to feel his fingers again. “Th-that sh-shows I have n-no b-body heat. It m-must be b-broken.” As soon as he was close to Ryan, the temperature spiked in an instant. He couldn’t see his breath anymore and his feet tingled like he had been sitting on them the whole time.

Ryan watched him with concern and what seemed like the utmost terror. He hesitated before walking to where Shane once was except he didn’t jump back this time. “It isn’t cold over here anymore.” It sounded more like he was saying it to himself. He held up the camera and Shane couldn’t tell if he  was fascinated  or wanted to die. “Dude, the temperature is back to normal.” He rushed back to Shane. “Look.”  He held up the camera toward the cupboard and sure enough, the normal shades of greens and yellows had returned.

“Interesting.”

“Is that all you have to say?” Ryan’s eyes narrowed in a way that made Shane think he wanted to punch him right in the nose.

“I’m sure th-there’s a logical exp-planation f-for this --”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “Of course.” He turned off the thermal camera. “Shane, I can see you shaking. There’s something going on around you and you’re refusing to see it.”

Shane rubbed his hands together. “It’s c-cold outside --”

“It isn’t seeping in through the windows,” Ryan shot back. “And the temperature on the thermal was nowhere near what it is outside. Why can’t you admit that there’s something supernatural at play here?”

“B-because ghosts aren’t real!” They couldn’t be.

Shane didn’t realize how desperate he sounded until a silence fell on the room. The only sound heard was Shane’s teeth still clacking together. He turned away so Ryan couldn’t see that he was actually a little scared. There was no way ghosts were real. But there was no reason for the temperature to take a sudden drop around him. If it was that cold outside it would have been snowing. And there he was standing in it in a stupid t-shirt and jeans.

Eventually , Ryan sighed. “Here.”

Shane turned around to see Ryan shedding his hoodie. “What…?”

“Take it.” He held it out to Shane.

“There’s no way that’s --”

“It’s warm.” Ryan’s expression  was determined. He wasn’t going to let Shane say no.

It wasn’t like Shane was going to deny something warm, anyway. He took it, noticing how Ryan winced when their fingers brushed. Was he that cold? “Thanks,” he mumbled.

“Don’t mention it.”

The size was as small as Shane expected it to be, but the body warmth outweighed how ridiculous he most likely looked. He zipped it up to keep as much warmth in as possible.

“Next room?” Shane asked, feeling  slightly  better.

Ryan rolled his eyes and grabbed his camera.

The next room would be the twins’ bedroom. While walking down the hall, Shane felt a sudden unease latch onto the pit of his stomach. It weighed down the closer they got to the bedroom, almost as if some primal instinct was telling him to run. Ryan didn’t seem phased at all which lead Shane to believe that there was nothing to worry about. Ryan was always the one that ‘felt’ things. 

The bedroom was the first room they saw that was bare. Nothing resided in it. There was some trash and random debris abandoned places usually had, but that was all. It made the whole room that much more unsettling. To make matters worse, Shane’s flashlight shut off.

Ryan turned to him with horror. “Did you  just  turn your light off?”

Shane shook the flashlight and tried to turn it back on. It flickered for a little bit before shutting off again. “This isn’t even a mag-lite,” he muttered under his breath. He hit it against the palm of his hand but it didn’t turn on again.

“Batteries?” Ryan supplied  hopefully .

“You saw me put new ones in.”

From Ryan’s flashlight, Shane could see Ryan’s nervousness grow. He looked around the room as if expecting to find an answer somewhere. “Dorothy?” Ryan called out. “Or  perhaps  Delaney? Did you… did you turn off Shane’s flashlight?” Of course, there wasn’t a response, but Ryan still looked around like they would spell it out for him. “Could you turn it back on, please?”

Shane’s flashlight flickered and Ryan almost fell to his knees.

At times like this is when Shane would  typically  taunt the ‘ghosts’, but he found he didn’t have much to say. He knew he had to say _something_ if he didn’t want to draw suspicion. “You couldn’t have even turned it on all the way?” He regretted it as soon as it left his mouth. The weight in his stomach was crawling up, threatening to escape. Those primal instincts made the hairs on his body stand on end because he got something he didn’t bargain for.

The sliding closet door, the door that happened to be closest to Shane, slammed into the wall. The mirror shattered on impact, making Ryan scream. The glass rained to the floor. It tinkled like some demonic windchime before settling down around Shane’s feet.

“You’ve angered them,” Ryan whispered. His body was rigid. He looked at the broken glass pieces like they were portals to hell.

“Ryan --”

“And don’t fucking say it was the wind!” He pointed an accusatory finger at Shane. “You can’t  just  say something and assume logic has your back.”

“I was gonna say we should leave.”

“T-the room?”

Shane hesitated. “The house.”

How Ryan mastered the confused but terrified face was a mystery. “I-I’m not exactly against it, but we haven't explored everything yet.”

“Yeah, but --” Shane stopped himself. A look of torment must have crossed his face because Ryan's expression changed. “Never mind. Let’s  just  \--” He made to move towards the door but Ryan stopped him.

“No, wait.” Ryan drew closer to him; the glass on the floor left space between them. “Tell me. What’s going on with you?”

Shane glanced at both their cameras. “Nothing.”

“I’ll cut it out if that’s what you’re afraid of.”

“It’s not  just  that.” And it  really  wasn’t. “There’s… something happening here. Something very wrong has been going on the moment we stepped through the door.” He paused, realizing for a moment that he  just  admitted something was happening to him out loud. “God, that sounds ridiculous, let’s  just  go.” He stepped out of the broken glass ring.

“Shane, wait --”

But the door slammed on Shane’s way out, cutting off Ryan’s voice. It actually made Shane jump. He turned to look at it.  His skin crawled, the hairs raising like little bugs creeping up his arms, but it couldn’t have  been caused by  the door. So what would make those stupid instincts act up?

His heart dropped before he actually felt it.

Stinging. It started at his sternum and -- in one swift movement -- reached his stomach. He cried out in pain. The farther down it was the more it hurt. Almost like someone dragged a knife across his abdomen but sunk it in deeper the closer they got to his stomach. He unzipped Ryan’s hoodie and lifted up his shirt. His eyes widened at the sight. There were _actual_ _claw marks_ on his skin. They were real. Tangent. He could still feel the sting. He could see how bright pink they were against his pale skin. _He could see the blood_.

Then he realized they weren’t claws. They were fingernails. Five. He couldn’t figure out which was more horrifying. Something scraped him with fucking fingernails -- and he bled. _Fingernails!_ In one swipe! That couldn’t have been  physically  possible. People couldn’t do that.

“Shane!” Ryan banged on the door. It took a minute for Shane to realize that Ryan had been doing that for a while. “Shane! Answer me!”

“I-I’m here.” His voice lacked the usual confidence. He dropped his shirt and reached for the handle. But it wouldn’t turn. “Did you lock the door?”

“What? Of course not! I can’t get it open.” Ryan was silent for a moment. “W-wait, you can’t open it, either?”

After a beat of silence, Shane cried out again. Something pulled on the hood with such force it sent him stumbling away from the door. It was an odd feeling,  being overpowered. He wasn’t strong or anything, he's   just  never had anyone mess with him before. His large frame was often seen as intimidating.

Once again, Shane’s instincts knew something was up before it happened. His ankles. What felt like cool hands wrapped around his ankles and pulled. He fell face first, dropping the camera and the flashlight in an attempt to catch himself. His nose ended up smashing into the floorboards. He saw the world spin before he felt those hands tug on his ankles again. Something was dragging him along the floor.

“Ryan!” Shane screamed the loudest he had ever screamed before. There was desperation and fear in his voice unlike any that he had ever heard. After a year of ghost hunting, he never felt a spark of fear. Now it seemed like the year’s worth hit him with a baseball bat.

Shane heard Ryan’s voice followed by a frantic beating of the door. For some odd reason, he felt like this moment was finalizing something.

“Shane!” Ryan kicked and banged the door to no avail. He stopped, breath heavy, before putting his ear against the door. He didn’t hear anything. “Shane?” He called out  tentatively. When he didn’t get a response, he called out with more urgency, “Shane?” Please, God, he thought, please.

It felt like his heart and stomach dropped at the same time when there still wasn’t a response. He glanced at the camera before setting it down on the floor. Using his flashlight, he looked around the room for something to break open the door with. This room couldn’t be that bare. There had to be something.

When Ryan tried to move the mirror door that wasn’t broken, his flashlight flickered. He paused; the twins didn’t want him to go in there. Fear crept up on him like a fierce snake. Its jaw was ready to unhinge and swallow him whole. But then he realized something. Shane  was scared , too. There couldn’t be two people jumping at every little sound. Someone had to be the level-headed skeptic. His hand shook but he slid the door open. He was doing this for Shane. As he stepped through the door, his flashlight shut off.

“Oh, fuck you guys,” Ryan hissed under his breath.

It was too dark for Shane to see anything. All he felt was the pain of falling down a flight of stairs. The stupid ass ghost dragged him down into the basement. Why did it hate him so much? Sure, he was a man, but so was Ryan. and they seemed to leave him alone. ‘Ghosts’ never tried to interact with him before -- that was Ryan’s department.

Shane pushed himself up into a sitting position. He groaned at the way his body protested. “If you’re gonna kill me,” he grunted. “At least have the decency to do it soon.” He wiped his nose. The blood was still fresh; it wasn’t that sticky syrup that it was always described as. “Don’t do it in front of Ryan, if you're taking requests. You seem to like him.”

One of the ghosts -- God, was he actually going to start admitting that? -- pulled on the hoodie to drag him away from the staircase. It yanked down and Shane’s head hit the concrete with a solid smack. The sound rang in his ears at a volume so loud it turned into ringing. It felt like his eyes were rolling in his head like a cartoon character. But he wasn’t disoriented enough to notice hands on his shoulders. “Ryan?” His voice sounded a little too loud. He tried to sit up but the hands shoved him back down. “Not Ryan,” He said through gritted teeth. “Got it.”

The hands slithered down to his chest and another pair of hands were on his legs. The hands on his legs didn’t feel as solid as the ones on his chest. Almost like they were reluctant to be there. Part of Shane wanted to question what they were doing, another part decided to keep his mouth shut.

Before Shane could even exhale, the hands on his chest were stabbing him with sharp nails. He yelled due to both shock and pain and felt the hands on his legs solidify in their place. Then  suddenly  he couldn’t breathe. He could feel the nails dig deeper into his skin but he couldn’t feel the rise in his chest. He tried to exhale but his lungs wouldn’t move. He wanted to scream for Ryan. The fear of dying in the middle of nowhere became very real.

His body shouted at him to breathe. Screamed. He needed the carbon dioxide to leave his fucking body right now. His body  was inflamed . All he could think about was how close he was getting to death. Death was right around the corner. Death would be coming for him. He would die in a basement and it wouldn’t be the first death there.

He didn’t realize he was crying until he felt one of the freezing hands wipe away his tears. He flinched away from the touch. The panic levels rose to an unbearable amount and he wanted to curl in on himself to feel some semblance of safety. But he couldn’t move. And he  probably  wouldn’t ever move again.

“Shane!”

When Ryan fell to his knees, the hands disappeared. Shane exhaled and inhaled  just  as fast. He put his hands on his chest and sobbed. The feeling of breathing was so _good_ \-- he would never let it go unappreciated ever again.

“Shane, c’mon, we have to go.” Ryan pulled Shane into a sitting position.

Shane wanted to tell Ryan not to touch him, he didn’t want to  be pulled  anymore, but his breathing was so ragged he couldn’t get anything out . He wanted to yank his arms away and say wait. He wanted to fall to the floor and accept what felt like death. But Ryan wouldn’t let him. He all but carried Shane out of the house.

Those stupid ghosts  really  fucked him up.

Ryan didn’t hesitate to put Shane in the passenger seat of the car and getting the fuck out of dodge. The only sound in the car was Shane’s harsh breathing. They didn’t stop until the lights of the town could  be seen.

Ryan stopped the car in the middle of the road a mile away from the town. “Are you okay?” His voice was quiet. When he looked at Shane, he found him looking out the window. “Shane?”

Shane shrugged.

Ryan sighed and rested his forehead on the steering wheel. Fuck that place. He would burn the whole house to the ground if he could. This was  just  supposed to be another silly adventure not… whatever the hell happened. He didn’t want ghosts to be real.

“Ghosts are still bullshit, by the way.”

Ryan couldn’t help but wheeze and Shane couldn’t stop the small smile.

“Of course they are.” Ryan shook his head in amusement and looked at Shane. They stared at each other for a moment -- Shane’s face smeared with blood, dirt, and tears. “After all that you still don’t believe?”

“I said I would only believe if I ever see a full-bodied apparition.” Shane gave that condescending smile Ryan never thought he would be glad to see. “After all that I didn’t see a full-bodied apparition.”

Ryan laughed. Shane tried to hold in a grin before joining in as well. For a moment, nothing felt as if it changed. They were  just  two friends who did stupid shit like visit haunted locations at night.

“In all seriousness,” Ryan spoke after the laughter died down. “Do you need to go to the hospital?”

“I might  have a concussion.” Shane shrugged again. “Strong winds in that house.”

They gave each other a look before breaking into another fit of laughter. They somehow took comfort in the fact that, no matter what, Shane would always be the skeptic.

**Author's Note:**

> Kinda tempted to make a series of one-shots in this AU but I'm not that creative. Also, I can't believe I fucking wrote this shit. It's so long


End file.
